Finishing touches

Finally got around to adding a sleeve onto this quilt - good to time catch up with some shows too.  I finished this quilt months ago, and had already delivered it to the recipient - but they wanted a sleeve, so they could display it.  You can read the story of this quilt here.

Do you use a thimble?  I do when I do bindings or sleeves - easier to push the needle through all those layers.  And less chance of injury, too!  I use the leather thimble with a metal tip inside, and a little space for your fingernail to peek out - if you have nails longer than I do, that is. :)

Another finishing touch - fresh flowers from my garden.  Lovely!

Modern art? and dinner in Chicago

What does this say to you? Every piece tells a story...this one tells MANY stories, actually...

These have been my painting coveralls since 1999!  I am the painter in the family, partially because I enjoy painting, and the instant gratification that a freshly-painted room brings!
But tonight we took a night off from painting, to head into Chicago - first for a short errand, and then, since she's in town for the summer...

...to grab a quick burger with our daughter Emily!  Always a treat to see her!

No sewing weekend!

Must start with recent photo of lovely daughters - on their Chicago summertime day-of-fun! Shown at Buckingham Fountain:  Emily, Hannah, Genevieve.

Still recovering from our April flooding - I have been painting and painting, on the home stretch!  This shows my pantry in the stairway, a necessary item because of my teeny 1950s kitchen.  This is all freshly painted, but the color is all wrong - it's actually called Aged Beige, a grayed beige color. 



Looking down the stairs, tricky to paint our old, funky curved stairwell.  We will replace the carpeting as the final step in our post-flood remodeling.




This shows the current awful mess on my dining room table - all of the pantry contents had to removed, in order to paint.  And this is only half of the mess.




Second half of pantry mess, which also shows my teeny kitchen.  Someone recently told me they couldn't believe I had a double oven in such a tiny kitchen.  I hope to have all of this back on the shelves by Wednesday.